Fiery crash on Rt. 15 closes highway for several hours

January 31, 2018

ALLENWOOD - One person was killed and two others reportedly injured Sunday afternoon, January 21st in a violent two-vehicle crash on Route 15 that closed a section of the highway for several hours, according to emergency responders. The crash occurred at 2:20 p.m., about a half a mile south of here, in White Deer Township.

Geisinger Medical Center's LifeFlight helicopter landed near the scene and transported one victim, according to firefighters.

Crews from White Deer Township, Warrior Run Area and Milton fire departments responded to the crash. A representative from the Union County Coroner's Office also responded to the crash site.

Firefighters still were on the scene at 8:30 p.m., and the highway remained closed from Route 44 to White Deer Pike as state troopers photographed and collected evidence from the wreckage.

The person who died in the fiery crash on Route 15 was identified as Diane Kent, 60, of Coal Township, according to state Trooper Eileen T. McDermott. Kent was riding in a car driven by her husband when the vehicle was rear-ended and caught fire.

Kent died of multiple injuries, according to Union County Coroner Dominic Adamo, who pronounced her dead at the scene. Stephen Kent, also of Coal Township, was traveling north when his vehicle was struck from behind by another northbound car at about 2:30 p.m., McDermott said.

Initially flown to Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, Stephen Kent was transferred to the Lehigh Valley Hospital in Allentown, where he was reported in stable condition, according to a nursing supervisor.

McDermott identified the other driver only as "a known 28-year-old man," who also was taken to Geisinger. There was no word on his medical condition.

"The investigation is ongoing," McDermott said.

The crash closed Route 15 in both directions for several hours.

Volunteer firefighters and paramedics were dispatched to another serious crash in the eastbound lanes of Interstate 180 in Northumberland County's Delaware Township, near Turbotville, at about 8:30 p.m. on the same day.

Michael V. Fornwalt, 22, of Muncy, was reported in critical condition at Geisinger with injuries he suffered when his eastbound Toyota Corolla struck an embankment, overturned and landed on its wheels on Interstate 180, just south of Sulphur Spring Hollow Road in Northumberland County's Delaware Township, about 8:15 p.m., state Trooper Scott Maskowski said.